


A Chance to Heal

by moonstone (amythestice)



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mpreg, Multi, Rape Recovery, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2010-09-18
Updated: 2010-12-29
Packaged: 2017-10-11 23:15:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/118240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amythestice/pseuds/moonstone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two years after graduating Hogwarts, four months after the final fall of Voldemort, Harry is facing his final assessment to join the Auror Corps. The last of Voldemort's suspected supporters are to be raided under the new Ministry's tough new laws, and if Marked, executed, simple enough one would think when faced with raiding Malfoy Manor, after all, everyone knows that they supported you know who. Think again, what they find in this house is Voldemort's last victim.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1

Harry shifted nervously as the rest of his team arrived behind him just outside the imposing black iron gates of Malfoy manor. He could feel the tug of the Dementor, one of the last three left under Ministry control, against his mind even caged as it was behind special wards, but at least the echoes of his mother's death were faint enough to put to the back of his mind this way.

"I can't believe we finally got permission to bring the Malfoys down," Ron gloated, watching as two Aurors went to work picking apart the defenses on the gate.

"Enough, trainee Weasley; if you expect to pass your final assessment, you will act in a professional manner, no matter what your personal feelings toward those we investigate. Tell me, now, the reason we have waited so long for clearance for this raid?" Kingsley Shacklebolt, their assessor for this mission barked at the red-head.

"Because there has been no proof that the Malfoy's did anything wrong, the sighting of the Dark Mark on Draco Malfoy's arm was classed as circumstantial as there had been no clearance to check for it," Ron recited, flushing as red as his hair, he knew he was at serious risk of failing to qualify, and either being kicked out of the Auror program all together, or held back to repeat part of the course while Harry qualified without him.

Harry watched quietly as Shacklebolt reamed Ron out, four months after the Order had finally brought Voldemort down; the 'untouchable' Malfoys were the last of the suspected Deatheaters left to be brought to 'justice'. Harry didn't particularly see it as justice personally, the new administration in the Ministry had brought in tough new laws, if you wore the Mark, you were fed to one of the Dementors as soon as the existence of the Mark was proven, no appeal, no claims of Imperio unless you were physically under it at the moment you were arrested, in which case, you likely wouldn't be in a position to claim it, just execution. They had even tried to execute Severus Snape, it had taken a lot of threats and wrangling from Dumbledore, Shacklebolt and Harry himself, trading on his 'killer of Voldemort' title to get the potions master/spy cleared and allowed to live his life without restriction.

"We're through," one of the Ward-breakers reported, interrupting Shacklebolt's lecture on not bringing the Auror corps into any more disrepute than Fudge's now defunct administration had already managed to do, even two years under the new regime hadn't managed to polish off all of the dirt that had stuck.

"Right, form up," Shacklebolt ordered with one more sharp warning glare at Ron.

"Huh, it isn't as if everyone doesn't already know the Malfoys are guilty as sin," Ron whined, pissed off at being lectured like that.

"Ron, we don't know any such thing, the only one the Mark has been seen on is Draco. We may suspect Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy of being Deatheaters, but until we see the Dark Mark on their skin, suspicion is all it is, you know that."

Ron snorted and started grumbling under his breath, and Harry knew he was bitching about that bloody diary again, that, coupled with his family's hatred of the Malfoy family was going to get him kicked out of the program at the last hurdle if he wasn't careful.

"Just do your duty Ron, do your duty, and one way or the other, it will all be over by nightfall," he sighed, falling silent once more as the squad of Aurors reached the ornately carved doors of Malfoy manor.

Kingsley stepped forward and hammered firmly on the door as the squad arrayed themselves on the steps in neat formation. If Kingsley was surprised to see Narcissa Malfoy opening the door herself, he hid it well, and hid at the same time whatever his response was to the cold sneer that graced her face at the sight of them.

"To what do I owe this dubious honor, Auror Shacklebolt," she asked haughtily.

"Narcissa Malfoy, you and your family are ordered to submit to examination under suspicion of being Deatheaters, by order of the Wizengamot, and Minister of Magic Anton Prewett. Where are your husband and son?" he demanded, handing her the parchment he carried and brushing past her into the foyer.

"Mother, who…" Draco stepped out of one of the rooms down the short corridor leading deeper into the house, just past the staircase, took one look at the squad of Aurors and made a break for the stairs.

Harry felt like smacking Ron for the smugly satisfied look on his face at the stupefy he hit Malfoy with, bringing him tumbling back down the dozen steps he had made it up.

"Potter, Tonks, start searching upstairs, Levin, Drake, start searching down here, I want Lucius Malfoy found before he has a chance to make a break for it. Carmine, you will take Willis and Trent with you to make your examinations of the two we have in custody," Shacklebolt told them.

"What about me?" Ron asked as Harry and Tonks started up the staircase.

"You will be staying right here with me," Shacklebolt told him coolly, and Harry sighed, shaking his head slightly.

"Harry?" Tonks queried quietly.

"He's blown it, he's gotten himself booted from the program for sure now, after already being warned once today, he used a spell that could have seriously injured or killed a suspect he couldn't know for sure was guilty, there were better, safer ways that he could have corralled Malfoy after he made a break for the stairs."

"You don't seem very upset at the thought," she said, not disagreeing with his assessment, he was right after all, Kingsley had given the redhead more chances than he ever gave anyone else.

"Come on Tonks, he's judgmental and more short tempered than I can be on my worst day, he was never cut out for the corps in the first place. Besides, I'm not 100% sure I intend staying myself, in fact, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to stay" he told her softly.

"What? I thought this was what you wanted?" she gaped, almost tripping over the top step.

He steadied her and stopped walking, shaking his head.

"I joined because Dad and Siri were Aurors, I joined because it was expected of me, I joined because I needed the training to fight Voldemort, I joined because Ron wanted me to. I hate what the new Ministry is classing as justice, I hate that we're killing people without a trial. How many more reasons do you need to know that I'm no more suited to this than Ron is?" he sighed.

"What are you going to do?" she asked him.

"I was offered an apprenticeship at the school; I'm going to take it, if it's still on offer to me. I can't do this any more Tonks."

"Well, you know I've got your back, whatever, right?" she asked.

"Sure Tonks, just as long as you're not carrying anything sharp while you're watching it," he joked.

"Humph, come on, let's get this done," she sighed.

The two of them pulled their wands and started searching the rooms for any sign of the Lord of the manor. They easily adopted a pattern of one of them throwing open the door to a room from the side to make sure they weren't in the path of any stray spells, while the other covered the corridor to make sure they weren't snuck up on, but when they finally found Lucius Malfoy, they found they needn't have bothered.

The pale, blond aristocrat lay on a lounge or daybed near the window, clad in black silk pajamas, barefoot, with a magic dampening band clamped around his ankle. The man's eyes were glassy, unfocussed, staring unseeing out across the gardens, and he was quite obviously pregnant.

"Well, I guess that explains why no-one has seen Lucius Malfoy since before the final battle," Tonks squeaked.

"This isn't right, Tonks, even a dampening band shouldn't cause this reaction in a wizard as strong as him, and they are _not_ safe to use in pregnancy. Go get Carmine and Shacklebolt, quickly," he told her, looking at the blank, lifeless eyes.

Tonks hesitated for a moment at the thought of leaving him alone here, but then nodded and hurried from the room, heading back to the staircase. Harry cautiously approached where Lucius lay, crouching down at the side of the lounge.

"Malfoy? Can you hear me? Lucius Malfoy?" he called, snapping his fingers in front of the grey eyes.

"Master will not speak, or move, without orders from Mr. Draco or Miss Narcissa."

Harry jumped out of his skin at the voice, but managed to avoid pulling his wand on the house elf that had popped up beside him.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Miss Narcissa has bad spell on Master, since Master tried to kill himself. She was not allowed to use the potions or the darker spells any more because they would damage the baby."

Imperio Harry realized, Narcissa Malfoy had her husband under Imperius, in place of darker magics she had apparently been using prior to him getting pregnant, and he suspected he really didn't want to know who had gotten the man pregnant if that was the reason for the suicide attempt the elf had mentioned.

"That isn't safe either," he pointed out, waving one hand at the band on Lucius' ankle.

The elf's face took on a pinched, disapproving look, and Harry realized that this elf actually cared about her master, which really, really made him wonder what the hell the problem had been with Dobby, that elf had loathed Lucius Malfoy.

"Tibby know that, Master too strong for Miss Narcissa and Mr. Draco to hold otherwise," she told him.

"Potter?" Kingsley's voice from the doorway cut into the conversation.

"Yeah, we have a problem," he told the big man, waving a hand at the still blond.

"Merlin's balls," he hissed, glancing back over his shoulder.

"Carmine, you're up," he told the team's medical attachment.

"All of you, wait outside," the medic said, chasing them out with a hard look when it looked like Kingsley, Harry and Tonks were all going to argue.

Harry leaned against the wall as the door shut firmly behind them.

"Mrs. Malfoy, and Malfoy Jr?" he asked quietly.

"Both Marked. Their sentences have been carried out," the big man told him, and Harry snarled softly, gesturing angrily at the closed door.

"And if we need to question them on what the fuck they've done to him?" he growled.

"There's nothing we can do to change it now," Kingsley said pragmatically.

Harry snarled again, folding his arms and not speaking again as they waited for Carmine to finish examining Lucius Malfoy. Things couldn't carry on this way, Anton Prewett was going to end up causing more strife in the wizarding world than Voldemort and Fudge put together if he wasn't stopped. Now that the last of the long list of suspected Deatheaters was dealt with, was he going to turn his attention against the Werewolves, or one of the other magical minorities?

It was forty minutes before Carmine came out of the room, looking shaken and outraged.

"He isn't Marked, the Dementor can go back to the Ministry holding pen with whoever is going to take the bodies back," she told Kingsley, her voice tight, angry.

"Carmine, how is he?" Harry asked, putting a hand on her arm.

"He's under deep Imperius, he's 24 weeks pregnant, and his magic is being suppressed, how do you imagine he is?" she demanded, then sighed as she shook her head.

"He's going to need proper medical care, the fact that the Imperius didn't break when the caster was Kissed is very worrying, and I have no idea how to get that band off, or even if it is safe to do it, his elf says that the Imperius and the band have both been in place since he was five or six weeks pregnant, the backlash of releasing his magic after it's been suppressed that long could kill him, and would almost guarantee him miscarrying."

"Well, un-Marked or not, he wouldn't live long in St. Mungo's, it isn't nearly secure enough if someone takes it into their heads to go after him," Tonks pointed out.

"Hogwarts infirmary is secure, and Sev…Professor Snape, might be able to break the Imperius with Legilimency," Harry suggested.

"All right, Tonks, you take the rest of the team, the bodies, and the Dementor back to the Ministry. Ronald Weasley is on disciplinary suspension, but he isn't to go anywhere until I get back, you can keep an eye on him. Carmine, Potter and I will take Malfoy to Hogwarts, and then I'll head back and give our report to the Minister."

"Prewett isn't going to be pleased Lucius Malfoy didn't get the kiss, is he?" Harry asked.

"Nope, but the man doesn't have the Dark Mark, and there's nothing he can do about that," Kingsley shrugged, he knew that Prewett had been making plans for the dispersal of the Malfoy fortune and holdings, it would serve the man right for 'counting his chickens' as the muggles put it.

The three of them headed back into the room as Tonks headed back downstairs to take care of the things Kingsley had put her in charge of, and found the helpful elf had already managed to wrap her master up in a soft blanket.

"You be taking my Master to make better now?" Tibby demanded.

"We're certainly going to try," Kingsley nodded, eyeing the pregnant man thoughtfully.

The dampener would possibly make levitation spells unreliable, and he didn't want to risk dropping the man and harming him or his unborn child, if for no other reason than that Carmine would eviscerate him. Sighing he stepped forward, slid one muscular arm under Malfoy's shoulders and the other under his knees, and picked him up.

"I assume a Portkey is safe enough?" he asked Carmine.

"As long as you're sure enough of your balance not to drop him, yes."

"Potter, you still have your Portkey to the headmaster's office?"

"Yes, he told me to make sure I kept it in case of emergencies," Harry nodded.

"Then you bring Carmine," he told him, using his thumb to twist around the rung he was wearing on the middle finger of his right hand, and activate it.

/x/

Albus Dumbledore looked up in surprise as Shacklebolt and his blanket swathed burden portkeyed into his office, followed a moment later, and much less gracefully, by Harry and a young woman in Auror robes that wasn't familiar to him.

"Sorry to bust in on you unannounced like this Albus, but we ran into a bit of a hitch," Kingsley rumbled.

"What has happened Kingsley, I thought you were raiding Malfoy manor today, was one of your team injured?"

"No, Lucius Malfoy needs medical attention, potentially long term, and St. Mungo's just isn't safe enough."

"Lucius? I would have thought…." Albus trailed off delicately, not really needing to say 'I would have thought he would be dead by now'.

"No, even if he were Marked, which he isn't, I wouldn't have executed him without a special directive from above, the man is pregnant, and they might be willing to kill him in that state, but I wouldn't."

"Then by all means, let us take him to the hospital wing, classes are in session now, so the corridors should be empty enough."

"If you don't mind, I think I'll go down and speak to Se…Snape, he has a free after the class he's in now, and I want to ask him about trying to break that Imperius," Harry said, blushing faintly at Dumbledore's knowing look, even Shacklebolt was smirking at him, that was the second time he had stumbled on the potions master's name.

"Why don't you do that, Harry," Dumbledore nodded, eyes twinkling.

Harry rolled his eyes and left the office, heading down to the dungeons, he might have known there was no hiding his relationship with Severus from that meddling old coot, he thought irritably. He had found some level of peace with the dour man before he had left school, while he was helping to train him, but in the two years since leaving school, when the training had intensified, so had their relationship, and they had started seeing each other when Voldemort had fallen. He leaned against the wall outside the potions classroom, trying not to think about his old school nemesis and his mother being kissed by the Dementor, he had vaguely known some of the others Kissed of course, but none that had been such a constant presence as the thorn in his side that Draco had been, and it was weird to think of him being dead, he knew it would upset Severus too, he had been the brat's godfather after all.

The students streamed out past him a moment later, and he slipped into the classroom once the last of them was gone, looking at the dark man sitting behind the desk.

"Severus," he said quietly.

"Harry? Is something wrong? I thought you were raiding Malfoy manor today?" he queried, sadness flitting through his eyes briefly.

"We did, Lady Malfoy and Draco Malfoy were proven to have the Mark within minutes of us getting there," he told him.

Severus took a deep, breath, closing his eyes, and a single tear ran down his face before he got himself under control, he might cry for his godson, but not here in his classroom, where anyone could walk in and see him.

"And Lucius? Did he slip the net?" Severus asked.

"No, Lucius Malfoy is not Marked," Harry said, and Severus looked up sharply.

"He was Marked the same day I was, Abraxas Malfoy had to Imperius him to get him there without him causing a scene," he said.

"Yeah, but he isn't Marked now, and I'm not going to provide the Minister with proof otherwise so that he can slaughter him without trial the same as he's done to so many others, I know that at least three others who were killed were forced by family members to take the Mark, but they were killed regardless. Anyway, Lucius is upstairs in the hospital wing, we need your help, he's under deep Imperius, they made him completely unresponsive, completely overruled his free will after he made a suicide attempt, going by what his house elf said. The Imperius didn't break when the caster was killed, they had a magic suppression band on him, he's also about five months pregnant," he told him.

"Damn, you know the child is more than likely _his_ , don't you?"

"Yeah, I figured that when the elf said her Master tried to kill himself."

"That would be the most likely reason he is no longer Marked," Severus sighed.

"Oh?"

"The Mark was the most likely cause of Bellatrix Lestrange's inability to carry a child to term; she miscarried four times, and suffered two stillbirths before she gave up. He didn't give a damn about his servants, but he would not risk his heir. Narcissa was loyal, she always had been, he would have trusted her to continue to keep Lucius under control without endangering the pregnancy," he sighed.

"The elf also mentioned darker spells and potions that had formerly been used on him."

"Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest, Lucius used to be headstrong, stubborn, and Abraxas was a bastard, he deliberately picked a bride who could keep him under control by whatever means necessary."

He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed tiredly before looking back to Harry.

"You said you wanted my help?"

"We were hoping you could Legilimize him, break the Imperius," Harry said.

Severus sighed again and pushed to his feet moving to stand beside Harry.

"Very well," he nodded.

"Oh, by the by, Albus knows about us, or at least he twinkled knowingly, so I suspect he does," he warned him.

"I'm sure we can put up with his insufferable smugness."

"Even if I'm around more?" Harry asked hesitantly.

Severus stilled and looked at him for a long moment.

"You're going to take the apprenticeship?"

"If I'm still wanted, yes. Today was pretty much the last nail in the coffin of any Auror ambitions I did have, aside from my loathing of Prewett, and the way the Ministry handled the disposition of the Marked, Ron stepped over the line once too often today, Shacklebolt is probably going to give him the boot, and he was the last reason I was hanging on at all, so as not to disappoint him, and leave him there alone."

"I'm glad, and I'd be glad to have you around more too, I know you weren't really happy there," he told him.

They started walking again, finally reaching the hospital wing, and stepping inside. Albus and Kingsley were standing out of the way, watching quietly as Poppy and Carmine treated Lucius as best they could considering the state he was in.

"Ah Severus, I'm glad you're here, we're going to be needing some specialized potions if we're seriously going to keep him here long term," Poppy said, clearly not in love with the thought.

"If having him here is going to be an issue…" Kingsley started, and she waved him off with a glare.

"I don't mind him being here, but this is a school hospital wing, we're not exactly set up for a pregnant, potentially severely traumatized, patient. He should be somewhere he feels secure, and I honestly doubt he is going to feel secure here, especially with his magic suppressed," she said irritably.

"We should worry about crossing that bridge when we come to it, seeing if we can break the Imperius should be the first step, and it is entirely possible that with a little research, we can get that band off without the rebound killing him or the child. He is, however, apparently a suicide risk," Severus said calmly, moving to the bedside.

He sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over to look into the glassy, lifeless eyes, slightly unnerved to see nothing in them, Lucius' quicksilver eyes had always been so expressive to people who took the time to learn how to read them, that this deadness was just wrong. He cradled the blond head lightly between his palms, took a deep breath and intoned softly.

" _Legilimens_."


	2. 2

The silence he encountered inside Lucius' mind was almost as disconcerting as the deadness in his eyes, they had learned and practiced Legilimency and Occlumency together, and this mind was never still. The hardest thing Lucius had ever had to learn to do had been to learn to meditate, he was not naturally given to mental stillness. He moved slowly through the silent mindscape, searching as he moved for any hint at all of the other man's consciousness. He had no idea how long he had been in Lucius' mind, it seemed like both an eternity, and but a moment, before he found Lucius.

The version of the blond in his mindscape was on his knees, chained wrists, ankles and neck to the dusty ground where he knelt, he wasn't pregnant here in his mindscape, which was the last evidence Severus needed that the pregnancy had been forced on him, if he had been willing, if he had wanted the child he carried, the pregnancy would be reflected on his mental image.

"Lucius," he called quietly.

The imprisoned man looked up, causing the chains holding him to rattle slightly.

"Severus? How can you be here?" he asked.

"You're at Hogwarts, in the hospital wing. The Ministry ordered a raid on your manor, Narcissa and Draco were taken as Deatheaters, and you were brought here when you were found. Can you tell me why the Imperius didn't break Lucius?"

"Why would the….they're dead?" he asked, his head dropping forward again, his hair covering his face.

"Yes, they're dead, Lucius. I will grieve for Draco too, but he wasn't the child you loved any more, you know that, he wasn't forced to go to _him_ as you were, he went of his own will, and took pride in it. He was helping his mother keep you enslaved."

"I know, but he was still my heir, Severus."

"You're carrying another heir, Lucius," Severus reminded, his tone a delicate balance of bluntness and gentleness.

" _His_ heir Severus, he raped me and forced _his_ heir upon me. He expects me to die delivering him his heir, and he will raise it up to take his place, my line will not be acknowledged in the child," he spat.

"Ah, I had wondered how long you had been imprisoned this way, Harry mentioned that it had been since you made a suicide attempt, but he didn't tell me how long ago that had been. Voldemort was finally defeated, for good, four months ago, Draco and Narcissa were the last of his Marked followers to be brought down by the Ministry as far as anyone can know for sure. The child within you, however it was conceived, is yours Lucius, it is his line that will be unacknowledged, not yours."

"No, he will return again, and claim his son," Lucius whispered, shaking his head.

"There will be no returning this time, Luc, the safeguards he had in place the first time were all found and destroyed, he is gone, he is gone forever."

"He's gone? He's truly gone?" he checked, his voice not quite steady.

"He's truly gone, you are free," he confirmed.

The chains dropped away, leaving Lucius kneeling unencumbered in the dust.

Harry leaned forwards slightly as Lucius blinked slowly for a heartbeat, and then his eyes dropped shut a moment before Severus moved his hands away from their light grip on his skull.

"Sev?" he queried uncertainly.

"He's…well, I hesitate to say he's all right, but the Imperius no longer has a hold on him. It failed to break because they had rooted it deeply, and he wasn't fighting it, he didn't see the point, I don't think. He'll sleep now, and while it pains me to say this, we need to restrain him before he wakes. While he seems fairly balanced and accepting of the child he carries at this moment, I have no doubt that now that he is once more permitted to think for himself, and the memories will begin to kick in, he will once more attempt to take his own life," Severus warned.

"Well, we have to get back to the Ministry, Carmine, Harry," Shacklebolt said, stepping away from Albus.

"All right, Albus, I'd like to speak to you later, if I might?" Harry said, moving toward Shacklebolt after shooting Severus a lingering look.

"Of course Harry, of course, come back whenever you're done, I have nothing planned for today," the old man nodded with a smile.

/x/

Severus was in his lab later that evening, busily brewing the specialized potions that Poppy needed for Lucius when Harry came back.

"How is he?" Harry asked, sliding into the room and perching on a stool over near the door, the closest Severus would allow Harry to a cauldron, even if they were lovers.

"Still sleeping, last I heard. I've been down here since not long after you left, there are so few standard potions that it's safe for a pregnant male to take, virtually everything he'll need has to be brewed from scratch. How did the remainder of your day go?" he asked.

"Well, Prewett was livid that Lucius wasn't executed, he refuses to believe that he isn't Marked unless it's confirmed by his own doctor, so arrangements are going to have to be made for that to happen, but luckily, for now Albus and Poppy can block them until they're sure he's in a position to handle the onslaught. Ron was livid that he not only failed his final assessment, but got booted from the Aurors; he seems to think that just because Narcissa and Draco Malfoy were proved to be Deatheaters, then his attitude was acceptable, and he's pissed because Lucius wasn't executed too. Shacklebolt is pissed because I quit, but he at least is still willing to back us in protecting Lucius from Prewett trying anything funny, he and I are both fairly sure that Prewett is mainly after the Malfoy money, Lucius and his baby are all that's standing in the way of it all falling to the Ministry. On the up side, you are now looking at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry's newest apprentice," he grinned.

"Congratulations Harry, Filius must be thrilled, he was really quiet disappointed when you chose to join the Auror corps, over the apprenticeship."

"He is, completely thrilled, he wants to set up the details as soon as he can. Can I ask you something personal Sev?"

"You are my lover Harry; I would hope you would feel you could ask me anything."

"How long were you and Lucius lovers?" he asked bluntly, he saw the startled look in his lover's eyes, and shook his head.

"You look at him the same way you look at me, Sev, the same care, the same tenderness. You don't look at anyone else that way, not even Albus, and he's been like a father to you."

"On and off since we were sixteen, the only times we were not lovers was when he was under strict control of his wife, or rather, the times when Voldemort was not active. When he was, Narcissa kept Lucius strictly under her thumb."

"You still love him, don't you?"

"Harry…"

"Be honest, please Sev."

"Yes, I still love him, I will always love him, he has been an important part of my life for a long time, but I love you now, and I would never hurt you."

"Even though he needs you now?"

"He needs a _friend_ Harry, he needs support to hold him together when he inevitably breaks, the last thing he will need is someone making a move on him when the baby he is carrying is the product of rape by Voldemort, which is likely to have been a…disturbing experience. He could use all the support he can get Harry, he would probably respond quite well to you too."

"I doubt that, every time he and I have been in the same place, we've ended up throwing curses, and insults at one another, he won't want me anywhere near him."

"Harry, you have a way of working your way into people's hearts that even Albus cannot beat. You even managed to get through all the defenses I had up, once I stopped actively trying to hate you, and Lucius is far more receptive to people than I have ever been, something to do with his bloodline, I suppose. You will reach him, if you're willing to try."

"His bloodline?" Harry asked, eyebrow going up when Severus winced.

"I probably shouldn't have said that, it isn't something a lot of people know, but Lucius Malfoy is more Veela than human, part of the reason Abraxas resented him so much, in my opinion, there has been some Veela blood in the Malfoy line for generations, Abraxas was the first Malfoy born in around two hundred years with no Veela powers at all, not even the faint allure that most of them had boasted, he was a charmless bastard. He married a woman who also carried traces of Veela blood, and they managed to produce an heir who was damn near full blooded Veela. Probably how Voldemort managed to get him pregnant so easily, usually a potion and spell combination is required for a wizard to conceive, and a potion that delicate, the evil bastard wouldn't have entrusted to anyone other than me, which he didn't, and Veela have one of the highest successful unassisted conception rates among all magical beings, witches and wizards included."

"I'll give it some thought," Harry said, satisfied with Severus' assurance that he wasn't going to lose him to his former lover.

He had to admit he felt rather sorry for Lucius, he thought to himself as he watched Severus decanting the batch of potions he had been brewing. The blond had spent a large chunk of his life being controlled by other people, Harry could certainly relate to that, and he had 'witnessed' Voldemort raping people several times through his connection, the creature had been vicious, brutal, and at least one victim that Harry had seen had bled to death from the damage Voldemort had done inside him. He could only hope for Lucius' sake that because the intent had been to impregnate him, to gain an heir, he had been more…restrained…about it.

"Harry, would you help me bring these to the hospital wing, and then we can get some dinner," Severus asked, slipping the potions vials into a small crate and adding it to a number of others.

"Sure," Harry shrugged, hopping off the stool.

He picked up half of the crates and followed Severus out of his private lab, waiting while he re-warded the door before the pair of them started to wend their way up to the hospital wing. When they got there, Poppy and Severus started moving the vials to the cabinet she had prepared for them in her office, to make sure no-one could get to them but her and Severus, and Harry wandered down the ward to check on Lucius.

The blond was still asleep as far as he could see, lying propped up by pillows, not quite enough to be sitting upright, but not flat on his back, either. Broad leather straps, lined with fleece of some kind were fastened firmly around his wrists and attached to the bed frame with lengths of chain, long enough that he could read a book if he were so inclined, Harry judged, but not long enough that he could get them loose and do himself any harm.

The chains rattled slightly as Lucius tried to shift over onto his side and was brought up short by the restraints, grey eyes snapped open, and started to fill with panic as he started to struggle against the bindings. Harry bolted for the nurse's office.

"I hope one of those is a calming draught, he's just discovered he's restrained, and he's about five seconds from a full on freak out," he blurted.

"Damn it," Severus hissed, grabbing one of the still crated vials before Poppy could even react, and hurrying over to the ward's only patient, who was indeed on the thin edge of losing it completely.

"Lucius," he barked, hoping to cut through the panic, but Lucius merely flinched and struggled harder.

Knowing that this wasn't good for Lucius or his baby, and that he had to get him calmed down fast, Severus stepped up to the bedside, fisted the long blond hair in one hand and held his head still while he poured the potion down his throat with the other. Lucius choked for a moment, then swallowed, his struggles slowing as the potion worked through his system. Severus released his tight grip on the man's hair, and automatically started to stroke it back into order as he waited for him to finish calming down.

"Sev? Tied down," Lucius finally whimpered.

"I know, I know Luc, but it's for your safety. You've already tried to hurt yourself once."

"Don't want to be tied down," he whined, tugging at the straps.

"And we don't want to find you dead or dying. I'll undo the restraints when I can be here to keep you company, but when you're alone Luc, I'm not willing to risk you."

"Severus!" Poppy chided, horrified at his bluntness.

"Don't fuss Poppy, Lucius knows I will only ever have his best interests at heart, unlike any of the others who have held him against his will."

Sure enough, the last of the struggles against the restraints had stopped, and Lucius was drifting toward sleep again.

Harry stepped over and wrapped an arm around his lover's shoulder as Lucius finally fell asleep once more, kissing the top of his head.

"I'll try," he said quietly.

"Thank you, my Harry," Severus breathed.

He rose and pulled Harry into a brief, chaste kiss, before turning his attention back to Pomfrey.

"He should sleep through now, but if he wakes up again, please call me, if he panics again, you're not going to be able to get any potions down him. Come on Harry, time to face Albus and his insufferable twinkling," Severus sighed softly, leading his lover out of the hospital wing.


	3. 3

Severus woke to a hand stoking back and forth through the sparse hair on his chest, and looking down at his lover in the thin light that was currently filtering in through the artificial window he could see a distant, thoughtful look in the emerald eyes. Catching the hand gently, he lifted it and pressed a light kiss to his palm before twining their fingers together.

"What has you thinking deep thoughts at ridiculous o'clock in the morning, my Harry?"

Harry sighed, and turned his head just enough to place a kiss on the shoulder under his head.

"Bad dreams," he finally said quietly.

"You should have woken me," he chided softly.

"Not screaming awake kind of dreams, just…more like memories of dreams, nightmares, that I had before we managed to kill off that snake faced bastard. God Sev, I think…I'm fairly sure…" Harry trailed off, and Severus felt a tear sliding over his bare skin.

"You think you remember seeing what he did to Luc?" Severus prodded, knowing the blond would have been fairly dominant in Harry's mind when he fell asleep, after everything that happened the day before.

"Yeah, among others. It was bad Sev, I kind of hoped that he would have held back, considering the reason he was doing it, what he wanted from it, but he was just as brutal, just as cruel as he was with everyone else, but they only had to live it once, before they got to die, he…it was more than once for Lucius, probably more than the two or three times my dreams picked out from the regular Voldie-vision broadcasts. I don't know how he's going to get through this without cracking completely, how he's going to get through carrying, giving birth to, that _monster's_ child, without shattering."

Severus hauled Harry over so that he was lying on top of him, and wrapped both arms around the smaller man, holding him tight to his chest and stroking his hair lightly.

"He'll get through it because we'll make sure he does, we won't let him shatter, and if he breaks, we'll put him together again. As to the baby, I may have a suggestion, when he's a little more stable, but it is something that you would have to agree to before I even contemplate suggesting it to him."

"What?"

"There are blood adoption potions that can be used in utero, they are in fact safer and more effective than those used after birth, they completely change the parentage of the fetus. From the moment he took it, the child would no longer be Voldemort's child, he could choose who he would have as the other parent."

"But he would more than likely choose you, which is why you want me to agree first."

"Hmm, me, or you, if you are able to reach him. This is not something I will be suggesting to him in the next few weeks anyway, it is something that can be done right up until the eighth month, so there is time for you to think it through clearly."

Harry turned so his forehead was resting on Severus' sternum, feeling his heart thudding evenly through his skull.

"Maybe," he finally murmured, he couldn't really see himself as part of any child's life, either as one of its parents, or a step parent. His own childhood wasn't exactly a glowing halcyon memory to base raising a child on, and the only _remotely_ positive influences he had to compare were the Weasleys, who he had often thought a little _too_ much, and Remus and Sirius, a werewolf and an escaped prisoner. Stellar examples to set before an impressionable child.

Severus of course was perfectly aware of what he was thinking, the closed in quietness of Harry's body was a perfect indicator that he was thinking of the Dursleys.

"Harry, all young children really need is love, and protection, and you offer both of those in abundance. All else, the obvious…well I don't see you of all people denying a child food, warmth or comfort. They may have been a piss poor example of humanity, but they were a sterling example of how _not_ to raise a child. Don't over think it for now, my Harry, first we figure out how we can keep Lucius together, and you focus on starting your apprenticeship, thinking of changing the parentage of the child Lucius carries is way down the list of things we need to think on," he told him, kissing the messy hair that was just under his chin.

Harry snorted quietly and tilted his head so he could look up at his lover.

"You know there was a time you would have been burned at the stake for reading folks minds like that, don't you?" he queried, a faint note of genuine humor creeping into his voice, even if it hadn't gotten to his eyes.

"I know," he agreed, unwilling to tell Harry that he read his body more than his mind, if he knew, he would try to control his responses, and it would make it harder to know when things were bothering him.

"Distract me Sev, push everything else of my head for a while?" he begged softly, wriggling up to kiss him. Severus was glad to oblige, deepening the kiss, tongues twining sinuously before he rolled them over so Harry was under him, pressed into the mattress, and then started to work on the distraction.

/x/

Harry spent the morning with Professor Flitwick, or Filius, as he cheerfully insisted his new apprentice call him, going through the details of what his apprenticeship would entail. He wouldn't officially start until September first, when the new school year started, but by helping Filius out with the administrative stuff for the next few months, and sitting in on the classes, even if he didn't participate, he could get a leg up on what he needed to know. It would give him a reason to be up at the school so much too, to see Sev, and help his lover with Lucius.

Lunchtime rolled around, and Harry felt nerves settle in the pit of his stomach, Severus had suggested they see Lucius at lunch time, maybe eat with him if he was up to it, so that he could start getting used to Harry's being around. He knew that it was stupid to be so jumpy, with his magic suppressed, and no wand, the blond wasn't exactly the threat to his life he had been in the past, even if he did take exception to seeing him, but he still wondered if this was a good idea. He wandered up in the direction of the hospital wing, and found Severus waiting for him outside.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" he asked quietly, leaning into the tall man as he bent to kiss him.

"Possibly not, but I hope so. Just, if he does lash out, don't let him rile you, please Harry."

"I'll try."

They entered the hospital wing together, heading to Pomfrey's office first.

"How is he Poppy?" Severus asked.

The nurse pursed her lips and sighed, shaking her head slowly.

"Withdrawn, refusing to talk to me, even in response to direct questions, on edge, he refused to eat this morning, and I had to spell his potions into him, he wouldn't swallow them willingly. He isn't drinking enough fluids, either, it isn't good for him or his baby, he will become badly dehydrated very quickly if he doesn't start drinking more."

Severus sighed, wondering if this was Lucius having difficulty with coping with what had happened to him, or Lucius being difficult in protest at being in restraints, either were possible at this point.

"I'll try to convince him to at least eat and drink, and take his potions," he told her.

Lucius was awake when they headed down the ward, turned as far onto his side as the restraints would allow, facing the windows.

"Lucius," Severus greeted, stepping into his line of sight.

Mercury eyes flitted over him and Harry warily, before returning to the window without acknowledging either of them.

"Its time for lunch, Lucius, Harry and I thought we would keep you company for a while."

There was more caution in Lucius' eyes when he looked at them this time, and the gaze lingered, moving over the two of them assessingly.

"Come on, up you come," Severus reached for Lucius' shoulder to help him sit up, and paused at the visible flinch the movement garnered.

"Luc, neither Harry nor I is going to hurt you," he chided gently.

Ignoring the soft rebuke, Lucius pulled himself over and into a sitting position, the chains of his restraints rattling slightly against the bed frame as he moved, not taking his eyes off them.

"I'll go and ask Madam Pomfrey to order lunch from the kitchens," Harry said, leaving Severus alone with Lucius, the tense silence really wasn't helping his nerves any.

"I don't want any food," Lucius said, his voice slightly hoarse.

"You must eat; you're going to make yourself ill. The food here is safe, there is nothing in the water, and all the potions that Poppy gives to you, _I_ brewed specifically for you, they are _safe_."

"I don't feel _safe_ , I feel defenseless, vulnerable," he snarled softly, tugging violently at one of the chains securing the wrist straps.

"You know why they're there, Luc. You tried to kill yourself and you and I both know that it wasn't the first time. I will not watch you die, Lucius."

Lucius snorted bitterly, shaking his head.

"Lunch is coming," Harry said with forced cheer, coming back, and dragging two chairs over to the side of the bed on his way.

"Why are you here? You hate me, you have good reason to hate me, why are you here on this 'stop Lucius Malfoy killing himself' kick?" he demanded.

"Because I love Sev, and Sev loves you, and it would break his heart if you managed to hurt yourself. Because you have things to live for, if you would just let yourself see them, including an innocent life that didn't ask for the way it was conceived any more than you did. Because I know how it feels to think that your life isn't your own, and the only way to gain any control at all is to end it on your own terms," he shrugged, sitting down.

" _You've_ thought of suicide?" Lucius asked, disbelieving, golden Gryffindors didn't think that way, they were too brash and forthright to contemplate that kind of solution, if they had a problem, they bulled through it, or made sure everyone knew at least.

"At least once every summer after I started at Hogwarts, before that, I didn't know that there _could_ be anything better for me, so the thought didn't cross my mind," Harry told him glancing at Severus, it didn't escape either of them that Lucius had _completely_ ignored the reference to the baby he carried or his rape, denial wasn't a good way of dealing with it.

"Your family…Lily was nice enough, for a Gryffindor, surely her sister lavished as much care on you as your mother…" Lucius asked uncertainly.

"My aunt was about as much like my mother as I am to Voldemort. Not that I wished them dead, particularly, but the picture in the Prophet of the Dark Mark flying over their house when they were found…it didn't exactly devastate me. The point is, if you just keep it together, things will get better eventually."

"Ah, and there's the Gryffindor outlook on life," he said, but his tone was a lot less snide than it could have been.

"If you don't want to look at it from a Gryffindor standpoint, how about a Slytherin one; if you die and take your baby with you, they win."

"I would have thought it was fairly obvious that he wins if I live to birth his spawn," Lucius said savagely, and Severus leaned in to block his glare at Harry, resting a hand lightly on his forearm, where the Mark had once rested.

"He doesn't mean _him_ Luc; he is dead, and no longer matters to any one of us, including your child. Minister Prewett on the other hand, he is very much alive, and would be delighted if you died and thus gave the Malfoy family holdings to the Ministry," Severus said smoothly.

The hot glare instantly turned glacial at the idea of Prewett rubbing his hands over the thought of getting hold of what the Malfoy family had spent generations building, the thought 'over my dead body' briefly flitted through his mind, and he mentally kicked himself, that was rather the point the pair had been making.

"Fine, the Slytherin standpoint it is," he said coldly.

Severus nodded slowly and squeezed Harry's thigh lightly as he sat in his own chair, not the most positive of emotions to spark in the blond, but short of anything disastrous throwing his mental balance off again, his stubborn, intractable desire not to let anyone get the better of him again would hold him long enough for them to find a better way, not that he was willing to risk forgoing the restraints completely just yet, he mused as he opened the straps when their lunch arrived.


	4. 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter opens with a fairly GRAPHIC rape scene, if you don't want to read that, then exercise caution for the first few paragraphs, or read the cut version on ff.net that has had the scene removed, http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6335023/4/A_chance_to_heal, here. This chapter also contains mentions of rape and a suicide attempt.

_Lucius drifted out from under the darkness of the stunning spell that had felled him when he tried to attack the guards who had come for him as soon as the start of his cycle had occurred, and found himself shackled face down on the bed in one of the many unused rooms in Malfoy manor._

 _“Ah, Luciussss, you have kept me waiting for sssso long for the potionssss to wear off, to finally enter a breeding cycle,” Lucius tensed at the mocking tone of chiding in his former master’s voice, and the feeling of cold, skeletal fingers ghosting possessively over the bare skin of his back._

 _“Fuck you,” Lucius snarled._

 _“I am thinking you do not quite undersssstand how this workssss, faithlessss one,” Voldemort told him, a trace of real amusement noticeable in his tone._

 _Lucius started to struggle against his bonds as Voldemort straddled him, the feeling of cold, clammy skin making him nauseas._

 _“Sssso pretty Luciussss, your blood will make my child admired, assss well assss feared.”_

 _Lucius couldn’t bite down on the scream as Voldemort thrust into him without warning, agony searing through him beyond anything he had ever felt before, even Cruciatus couldn’t compare with this pain as the misshapen, scaled cock was forced violently into him._

 _“You will bear me my heir, Lucuissss, you sssshould be honored to produce the next ruler of the wizarding world.”_

 _Robbed of breath by the pressure of the intruder inside him, he couldn’t voice his opinion of Voldemort’s claims, barely managing to suppress his whimpers of pain as Voldemort plunged ruthlessly into him again and again, the edges of the scales that lined the thick erection tearing at the delicate skin of the unprepared passage._

 _“Sssso hot, sssso tight,” Voldemort crooned breathlessly as his movements lost rhythm, until he froze, grunting once as Lucius felt the rush of wet heat inside him, the semen stinging his torn flesh mercilessly as Voldemort pulled out and climbed off him._

 _“If you behave Luciussss, you will be permitted to prepare yourself before I take you tonight, if you do not behave, if you force your guards to bring you to me unconsssscioussss again, you will be taken without preparation and you will not be healed, until you prove your contrition.”_

 _Voldemort strode out of the room, and Lucius heard him speak to the people waiting outside the bedroom._

 _“Narcissssa, Draco, I am done with him for now, have the healer tend his injuries and return him to his chambers.”_

 _Lucius gave in to the grasping hands of unconsciousness as he heard the two of them approaching the room, he couldn’t deal with his so called family right now._

Lucius woke from the nightmare/memory with a strangled gasp, twisting sharply against the restraints to vomit violently over the side of the bed. He couldn’t catch his breath between the waves of sickness, and dizziness and panic both started to get a grip on him.

Poppy jumped as the alarm monitoring her only patient at the moment started to sound in her office, and closing the book she had been reading to update her knowledge of male pregnancy; she hurried out into the ward taking in the state of her patient quickly.

“Libby,” she called, hurrying for the bed and pulling her wand out.

The little house elf assigned to the hospital wing popped up as she reached the bedside.

“Yes, Madam Poppy mam?”

“Fetch Severus,” she ordered, barely noticing as the elf popped out again.

She ran her wand over Lucius, casting diagnostic spells quickly, not liking what she found at all, he was still dehydrated as it was, and this wasn’t going to help, he wasn’t getting enough air, his blood pressure was going through the roof, and his baby was in distress, but there was no point in trying to spell any potions into him while he was still vomiting, they would just come back up again.

“Poppy, what the hell? Your demented house elf just came and abducted me from class,” she had never been so glad to hear Severus’ snarling tones in her life.

“Severus, try to calm him down, we can’t give him any potions while he’s still sick,” she told him firmly.

“Bloody hell, what happened?” Severus demanded, moving to the other side of the bed to her so he was facing Lucius, and absently scougifying the mess from the floor with a flick of his wand, and opening the restraints with a second flick.

“No idea, the alarm sounded a few minutes ago.”

Severus nodded and studied his friend quickly, the other man had been reduced to dry heaves now, interspersed with ragged, ineffectual attempts to draw breath, and his eyes were glassy and wild. He sat on the edge of the bed and hauled Lucius up against his chest, pinning his arms firmly.

“Lucius stop it, you’re safe, do you hear me, you’re safe here. You _must_ calm down, just breathe Lucius, be calm and breathe,” he told him, holding the struggling man tightly. He could feel Lucius struggling to get his breathing under control, but it wasn’t working.

“Poppy, get one of the breathe-easy potions I made for that first year, the one with all the allergies, that should be safe enough for Lucius. If he brings it up, he brings it up, but his breathing isn’t going to improve on its own.”

She nodded and hurried to fetch the potion, grabbing a calming potion too, she wished it was safe to give him an anti-emetic, but not even Severus had been able to come up with a version that was safe in pregnancy. Heading back, she spelled the two potions into Lucius, and held her breath, hoping that he managed to keep them down long enough for them to do their job.

“That’s it, Lucius, just focus on your breathing,” Severus told him, feeling his breathing start to ease.

Finally the blond went limp against him, his breath still hitching slightly, but much better than it had been before.

“Are you going to tell me what brought that on?” Severus asked as he eased Lucius back against his pillows so that Poppy could run her diagnostics again, and very casually closing the restraints in place once more.

“Nightmare,” Lucius told him flatly, his voice strained, hoarse.

“Lucius…”

“I…I never really remembered the first time clearly until now. I attacked the guards who came for me after my cycle started…gave Dohlov a black eye before they knocked me out…he took me with no preparation as punishment…the pain was…” Lucius shook his head and trailed off, closing his eyes.

“Morning and night, every day for two complete cycles, it never really seemed to hurt less, even though he _graciously_ allowed me to prepare myself for him after that…as long as I behaved that is,” Lucius said bitterly, eyes still shut.

“When did you take?” Severus asked quietly, registering that Lucius flinched noticeably when he rested a hand very lightly over the swell of his stomach.

“First time in the second cycle, he knew but…have to make sure, you know. I managed to put it out of my mind, ignore it, or hope…you know…but my third cycle didn’t start, and I knew I couldn’t deny it anymore, I slashed my wrists…came so close to bleeding to death…I don’t know which one of them found me, but the next thing I remember is hearing that snake-faced asshole screaming at them in rage, and ordering them to make sure I couldn’t endanger _his heir_ again. I don’t think he came back after that,” Lucius added with a tiny frown of concentration as he tried to remember.

“It would likely only be a few days after that when Harry killed him. Narcissa and Draco must have been ecstatic over the thought that they would get to mould the bastard’s heir,” Severus sighed.

“I wouldn’t know, _everything_ is pretty much gone after that,” Lucius shrugged tiredly.

“Do you think you can manage to sleep again? You need rest Lucius,” Severus told him, seeing the lines of exhaustion in his face.

“I don’t know, so very tired, but….”

“I know, clear your mind Lucius, you know how to do this, clear your mind, lock everything away behind your barriers for now; you can’t fight your demons the way you are now. Close your eyes and breathe, clear your mind…”

When he had finally managed to lull Lucius back into sleep, his face markedly more peaceful, for the moment at least, he headed to the office and leaned on the doorframe.

“He’s out again. If you want my recommendation, for today at least, increase the sensitivity of the alarm spell and get a calming potion into him at the first hint of distress,” he sighed.

“That bad?” she asked, she had left as soon as she had run her diagnostics, knowing the Malfoy Lord would clam up as soon as he realized she was listening.

“He’s starting to recall Voldemort’s…. _attentions_ …in pursuit of siring an heir on him,” he told her.

“Oh dear, well, he managed to avoid doing himself, or the child, any serious harm, this time. I’ll keep an eye on him, and yes, for today I’ll keep putting calming potions down him,” she nodded.

“Good, well, I’d best get back and make sure that last class didn’t blow up my classroom,” he forced a smirk on to his face and left the room.

He was shocked when he got to his classroom to find that not only had it not been blown up, but the previous class was gone, everything was tidied away, a rack of potions bottles was sitting on his desk, the next class was sitting quietly with their noses in their textbooks, and Harry was sitting on the desk beside the potions bottles, arms folded and glaring at anyone who even appeared to be thinking of talking to their neighbors in a way that was very reminiscent of Severus himself.

Harry hopped off the desk when he saw Severus and ushered him into a corner by the storeroom, raising a privacy spell with a negligent wave of his hand, and positioning them so that Severus could watch the class over his head.

“Albus came down looking for you, he squared away the previous class and got their finished potions bottled and on your desk in case you’re worried, he just asked me to keep an eye on this lot and make sure they didn’t do anything destructive before you got back. Is he all right?”

“He has been better, I will tell you later. What did Albus want me for?”

The venomous, cold look of hatred that flitted over Harry’s face explained why Harry had made sure he had his back to the class before speaking with him.

“Prewett has made his move, he got tired of Albus and Poppy blocking him and appealed directly to the Wizengamot; he and his personal physician, as well as two members of the Auror Corps will be here tomorrow to examine Lucius and determine to _his_ satisfaction that Lucius Malfoy is not Marked,” Harry snarled, and Severus felt his heart clench, Lucius was nowhere near ready for that kind of confrontation, and there was a serious chance it could push him over the edge they had been trying to pull him back from.

“Damn,” he said with feeling.

tbc


End file.
